Attitude and Practice Regarding Breast Cancer Early Detection among Iranian Women: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVES: To determining attitudes and practice regarding breast cancer early detection techniques (breast self-examination (BSE), clinical breast examination (CBE) and mammography) among Iranian woman. METHODS: International (PubMed, ISI, and Google Scholar) and national (SID and Magiran) databases were reviewed up to September 2017 to identify articles related to the attitudes and practices of Iranian women concerning breast cancer screening behavior with reference to BSE , CBE and mammography. The screening steps, analysis of quality of the studies and extraction of the papers were performed by two reviewers. RESULTS: Of the 532 studies included initially, 21 performed on 10,521 people were considered eligible. Subjects with a positive attitude toward BSE in various studies were 13.5% to 94.0% with an average of 47.6%. Positive attitudes to CBE and mammography were found in 21.0% and 26.4%, respectively. Participant performance of BSE ranged from 2.6% to 84.7%, with an average of 21.9%. The respective figures for CBE and mammography were 15.8% and 16.7%. CONCLUSION: Considering the poor performance and low rates for positive attitudes, it is suggested that educational programs should be conducted across the country.